Cinescussion - Episode 10 - The Halloween Special

Happy Halloween! Well, pretty soon and to kick off our first Halloween special we decided to dive into some of our favorite horror movies within various genres. Come walk down that creepy pumpkin filled alley towards our creepy cauldron, as we brew up a batch of our favorite spooky stories...well, ok IMAGINE that's what's happening as you join us here on our 10th episode!

Film Discussed:
28 Days Later | REC | The Skeleton Key | The Devil's Backbone | Scream | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | Black Swan | A Nightmare on Elm Street

As always, thanks for joining us movie, video game, and television lovers and we hope you enjoy the episode.

                                                                                                      -Dillon & Fortune
 
                                                                                                       Cinescussion.com

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Cinescussion. Follow us on our socials for updates and random shenanigans.

Dillon's Twitter
Fortune's Twitter
Cinescussion Twitter
Cinescussion Facebook
Cinescussion Instagram
Cinescussion TikTok

Transcript

(This transcript isn't 100% accurate.)

Hi everyone, this is Dylan.

And this is fortune also known as a restless mind on YouTube.

And welcome to sin discussion episode 10. Our little Halloween special.

We are in double digits.

Finally. If I remember correctly, I know this is my favorite holiday of the year. Is this your favorite holiday of the year?

100% There's no holiday that even comes close to Halloween. I love horror I love I love spooky atmospheres. I love creepy things. So that's probably why I love like nightmare. Nightmare Before Christmas and stuff like the whole world is so cool to me. Like I love all that so

yeah, yeah. Yep. Spooky Scary Skeletons. Absolutely, yes. One of my favorite parts scary movies and candy. I could just do it all year.

Yeah, I know, right? I always enjoy Halloween. I'm like now there's no excuse. It's time to start watching lots of horror movies. Even bad ones. This is gonna be great.

Exactly. And sometimes the bad ones even better.

Yeah, ironically, like I end up having more fun.

Yeah, I know. We got a lot to go through today. We saw some movies. As you saw the new Halloween. I saved myself that heartache. I

made sure to do the free subscription for seven days on peacock and I watched it at home because I

had that feeling. I didn't know you could do that. Okay, all caps on tick tock. You can get like seven days free. I

did. I did that and then cancelled it.

Well, you're like, This is what you have to offer. I actually got all the fun this week, I got to see the new dude. And it's that rare occasion where Dylan's raising a blockbuster.

Oh, I can't I can't wait, though. It didn't even come on. When does he disappoint? Like when does he ever

he doesn't? I you know, I'm hearing mixed reviews. And I'll you know, I'll go into a quick synopsis on why I think that is. But when it comes to big, large scale blockbusters, I was just sitting I thought proper. I bought tickets to IMAX theater with my fiancee and we sat in just a giant screen with an incredible sound system. And I was taken away. I was no longer on Earth. That was awesome. That sounds awesome. Yeah, but I'll get to that we're going to be talking about a lot of horror kind of monsters and genre as we decided to kind of go through a list of like favorite zombie movies and slashers and ghost movies, and maybe not favorites, but a few movies that we want to revisit this season and kind of share with each other and chit chat about.

I actually actually like the way you did this too. Because like, we just knew we wanted to talk about just Halloween and spooky movies and stuff because we love them. And he was like, why don't we do like one of each genre. And I was like, Oh, that's a great idea. So well done. By the way. I thought that was like a fun way to do it. So

thank you. Thank you. I kinda I was gonna say vampires, too. We didn't do that one. But we both watched black mass and we could yes about that for ever.

I struggled with Ghost movies. We used to ghost movies, I realized I was like, I need to watch. I almost sent all the ghost story because it's one that I want to see. But it's not

like a movie, right?

I don't think so. Yeah, like because like, I think I've seen them. But I feel like all the ones that I've seen. I know you've seen and it's not it's okay, if you've seen it, but I was trying to pick stuff that I liked that I wasn't sure if maybe you've seen but you know how it goes. So yeah, well, that

was probably the easiest for me ghosts and vampires tend to be my favorite when done right. Because I feel like it's very tragic and romantic and scary at the same time. Yeah, I can see that for sure. So those were those are definitely some of my favorites from today. But before we dive into all that fun stuff, let's talk about what's new. I think we should start with Halloween because you had a chance to watch this. We both short, huge fans of the Halloween kind of reboot that came out a few years ago. Halloween.

I didn't. I didn't hate it, but I didn't really like it either. It was like, it was like fun. Okay, I guess. Yeah,

that's how I felt too. When I think back to it, though. I feel like the only thing I like is the tracking shot in the town. And the thing that I hate more than anything else is the stupid twist that the therapist or the Doctor,

do it actually. Like in the worst part is I think I was with a friend. And I was like, I was like, watch the therapist be evil. I don't know why but watch. And then like, I was literally I literally like threw my hands. Like no. I also felt like the director isn't a bad director, but I don't personally feel like the director handles horror super well, in my opinion, like in terms of like, building tension and stuff. Like I don't really feel like they do that a lot, um, personally, and I feel like a lot of the Halloween films are kind of like that, but, you know, I just like to see more of that, you know, I'd like more atmosphere and I'd like to see more tension being built between kills and for scenes and stuff, you know?

Yeah, well, it's been a long time since Michael Myers is faced off against Busta Rhymes. So how's the Halloween franchise doing? How was Halloween kill?

Why did you break that? Trick a treat? Like Ricky literally is like oh man, no, no, do this to me. BUSTA RHYMES, an amazing fucking rapper

that he did was Oh,

man. Halloween resurrection.

Well, I thought it was h2. Oh, was it? Oh,

it's 12 was the good one. In my opinion, it's 12 was the one that was pretty good.

h2 o was h2 Well

was Jamie Lee Curtis 20 years later, she's the principal. That's like one of the few I actually really liked. My only gripe about h2o Was that, even though it's rated R, it feels like a PG 13 movie. That's like my only gripe I, what I like about is if you watch it, the characters weren't, they weren't just stupid for the sake of being stupid. They were very honest characters. The story actually was solid, it made sense. You know, the square off was actually pretty great. The ending scene very final, which is great. But overall, I thought he was actually one of the better films in the franchise. I just wished that, you know, some of the scenes had been bloodier and stuff, not for the sake of blood. But just because it felt PG 13 Even though it was a rated R movie to me, in some ways. So yeah. But anyway, Halloween kills. So literally takes place, like directly after the first film. If I'm correct. Let me see here. Yeah, basically, basically right after the first film. Yeah. So because they kind of showed you in the trailer that obviously firemen go to the house. And she's like, No, let it. Yeah. Of course, I think Jamie Lee Curtis is great. She always is. I liked her a lot. She was good. So that's a positive. And there's like, Okay, so my issue with this film. It's, it's so bad. Because, because to me, and I'm not trying to be rude. But I mean, really, though, like, it feels like any character development that was set up for certain characters in the last movie is essentially thrown out the window in this movie, like, it's almost like, oh, the first movie did really well, we need to do two more. So let's, let's rush these scripts quickly. I mean, I'm not saying that's what happened. But it kind of feels that way. If you're someone that's just going to see a Hollywood movie, you don't care if the story's bad, and it's kind of stupid, and you just want a higher killcount, you'll get that you will get that that's definitely has a higher killcount. But I just feel like the characters kind of are meaningless. If you could even call them characters in this film. It's like they're just there. And then there are some deaths that are just there for to be dramatic, you would think, but there's nothing dramatic about it, because there wasn't anything built up to it. And it just feels random. And it's like, Okay, well then what was the point of having some kind of character arc for that person in the last movie, like, I just don't, there's no point like, there's no point to any of it. And then once again, there's a lot more deaths, but I would say that like in a horror film, you know, it's up to a director to create tension to create fear to, you know, really build these sequences and then deliver on something, you can make each death interesting, like you can, but almost none of them are interesting in this film, and they don't really feel very scary. It just feels like someone walking around killing people. And there's nothing interesting about the way it's done at all. And then the other issue I have is, this film is really, really bad at every, like, pretty much every single character in the movie, in almost every scene becomes really stupid before they died. But like it's not even like sometimes it's not even like, oh, that dumb guy that they, you know, had run off by himself. It's like every single scene people are just really stupid suddenly, like for the sake of the script, and it it got to a point where halfway through the movie, it was actually kind of irritating. It was like this film, it almost Halloween kills almost felt like a satire to me, like I couldn't believe that. Like, for real though, I like some of the characters that you're introduced to in the beginning. You know, there are some cool cameos I don't want to spoil it, but I'll just say that there are some really cool cameos there are some sequences that are shot that are supposed to be like in the past I thought that was handled pretty cool pretty well because the color grading everything it actually looks like the old footage, which is really impressive. I thought that was cool. But the way these characters are brought in and what happens to them and just the way people die, it's like almost every scene characters split up or they stick around or and it's and it's in situations that no one would ever do that and I can understand having maybe like one dumb movie in the in the horror movie because it's funny or whatever. But it's like every single character does that. Like I think one character did something kind of smart that involved bricks in a bag. And they survived for now, I guess. But that was about it like every other character even characters that you'd think were kind of cool cameos? No. You know, other characters that had character development just died for seemingly no reason. There's one cool shot that involves Michael Myers towards the end of the film that involves like, the background kind of shifts. And it's just him with like this kind of spotlight II thing. I thought that was a very cool sequence visually.

But I just feel like the story, the story just feels like a bit of a mess. Like, like over and over again, it just keeps feeling that way. And then there's a situation that involves somebody in a hospital and I don't want to spoil it, so I won't, but I'll just say it's like they were trying to make a point, like there were supposed to be commentary on on some stuff, but I don't feel like it worked very well. It just felt very random, like, in a way, like, just because there wasn't anything really well, that was built up to it. So like, I don't know what the plan is. It almost feels like this is just something that was thrown together because maybe in the finale, they want certain people to square off. I don't know, but it definitely feels like the only way to put it is it really does feel like a mess. Like and I don't, I don't I'm not trying to be mean, but it kind of does come off that way. Like the last film I didn't love but I didn't feel like it felt like a mess. It just felt like it was kind of uninspiring, but it was okay, you know, it's fine. But like this one actually does kind of feel like a mess. So. So I guess my final judgment is, if you're just there to see Michael Mars, kill a bunch of people, you might have a good time. If you care about any form of story or character or anything it is it's not gonna really deliver. They're so nice and

well, you know, me. The original John Carpenter Halloween is arguably one of like two or three of my favorite slasher movies of all time, and I've had a little bit of love for the series, even throughout the bad ones, but I hate the boring ones. And I felt it when I saw the trailers. I was like, I feel like this one's not gonna quite hit the mark. So I'll probably catch it like you did on taco probably,

I'll say, I'll say it's, it's not boring, but it's not good. It's it, it? I'll be honest, it's one of those things where it almost does get kind of funny. Like, that's not what they're going for.

Like, Oh, no.

If you go into with that mindset from the beginning, it could be fun. If you're hoping for it to be if you go with the mindset, hoping for it to be a good movie, you're gonna be very disappointed that that's kind of how I'll, I'll wrap that one up, I guess.

Fair enough. Well, I'll do that for the both of us.

I did just want to say one more thing. I think a big part of this also is just that studios don't know what to do with Michael because even John Carpenter if I'm correct, hello, and was never supposed to be a franchise. Like he wrote it to be a one off Michael Myers was supposed to be it was supposed to be the scary story on Halloween night. And he had I believe, said that. If they did sequels, he was hoping they were almost more like Halloween three, where each sequel takes place on Halloween night. But it's a completely different story, like an anthology series. So Michael Meyer was never really supposed to be this constantly, you know, moving thing. That's why I think when you do these movies, where you try to explain why he never dies and all the stuff, it doesn't really work because it was never meant to it was supposed to be this mystery that just ended horribly. And it was it you know, so yeah,

yeah. issue too. So I think a lot of writers kind of confused his identity with like, a Jason Bourne. He's

like, 100%

when in the first one when they're talking about he's the embodiment of evil. They don't mean supernatural. They just mean Yeah, conscience, you know, supernatural stuff comes into play big

falls apart. Oh, my God, the curse of Michael Myers. Yeah. The cult. The cult. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's a Celtic God that have killed people. I was literally like, this is the funniest fucking thing I've ever had.

Oh, man. Well, let me tell you a little bit about a movie that I got to see. Please. I ran out to theaters as quick as I could and saw Geneva news dune. I am one of the folks who is going in completely blind. I'm familiar of the 80s version. I've never seen it. I've never read the book. All I know is that when it comes to sci fi fans, the fan base holds it incredibly high regard it sounds like it's like the Lord of the Rings of sci fi which after seeing this I can see where it's coming from. It's not a light kind of fun adventure like Lord of the Rings but the amount of depth and character work in the story as well as the world. i It makes sense. To me vino has made every single one of his movies has been absolutely stunning. The streak, the streak that he's on. It might just be unheard of, like how many times he's just been knocking it out of the park. I don't know how many other directors has a streak like he has right now. But started with

his earlier foreign phones to like Yeah. But like I've read about them and they seem very good.

Yeah, um, and for him to take a big budget Blockbuster and what he does with it, it was absolutely phenomenal. I'm gonna get into the one gripe I have. And it's actually kind of a sign of the times more so than the movie. The title card of this movie is doing part one, which will of course lead into part two Being COVID This movie has to be successful for a part two to be greenlit and commissioned. And this movie very much feels like act one leading into act two of a full story. It's not like Fellowship of the Ring, where you have a clear defined beginning, middle and end, you do have a clear character arc, like a very clear character arc and the main character, Paul. But that being said, it does feel like towards the end of the movie, they're trying to figure out where to kind of fade to black towards the end. You know what I mean?

So I hate that I felt like even if it's a chapter, it should feel like a complete film. Like that's kind of how I, I feel most of the time.

Yeah, that being said, so yeah. And I could see that's a totally valid criticism, and this movie is going to the way this movie is received long term is going to greatly depend on the existence of that second part. My only gripe, that being said, I was blown the fuck away. I have not seen a movie this transported. I think I was telling you the last time I felt this swept away to another world was maybe James Cameron's Avatar, when I saw that, and

that was a great experience, and especially in 3d.

Yeah. The world design, from the exterior shots to the big open VISTAs, to all of the details that's put into the various worlds that you visit, the story is incredible, no detail is spared, you're really just completely taken off. And it's I don't want to get too much into the story. Because if you're lucky, and like me, I will just say, a very kind of brief 35,000 foot view of what's going on. It's about a great house under a galactic empire that is commissioned to or not commissioned, but given the opportunity to manage the export of a what's called spice and it allows for intergalactic travel. And it's an incredible

game that's playing. But those of you that play new world, it's basically a is off.

There we go. So this gray house accepts this job from Empire to oversee and rule the people and planet of Iraq in where is the only it's the only place where spies can be gathered and distributed amongst the Empire. So intergalactic travel can be possible. That being said, there may be something sinister working in the background this plan may not be as kind of cut and dry as it seems. And it leads the main character Paul into Hero's Journey type story. That's a huge epic incredible and just just awesome easy stuff. The cast is absolutely incredible. Timothy shallow may Rebecca Ferguson, this part of the movie this first half. It's really their movie to shine. You'll see like the poster and you'll see a lot a huge stars on it. You'll see Oscar Isaac and Cynthia and Jason Momoa Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard hobby. All right, Dan, it just keeps going. keeps going. Yeah. And everybody does incredible work in their roles. But when it comes to like this huge stars and the people who get the most emotional work within the script in this first part, Timothy, shell, man, Rebecca Ferguson, steal the show.

I love Rebecca Ferguson. She was my favorite part of Dr.

Sleep. Yeah, yeah, she Yeah, me too. Part of that movie. Like her.

Her performance was so good. Like, like, I loved it so much that I like I was like, I'd love to write something just for her and behave in a similar manner. Like, I loved it so much like she was so great.

Yep, I totally agree. Um, as far as side characters in this, I'd say the four that stood out most to me. Oscar Isaac as a lead character's father, his name is a Duke letto a tradies. And I love Yeah, he brings this realness to the role as well as this incredibly supportive father figure with just like an immense amount of responsibility. And he's awesome. Josh Brolin and Jason Momoa. Both bring that kind of like tough, charismatic bravado to these really macho characters that they bring in. And they're

funny to see that from Josh Brolin. Because before like, banjos, that was not, he was like, he's just a really serious, great actor, and

now he has cable. Yeah, he

was. He was cable cable after, though.

No, I think Deadpool two came out before Avengers, right? Really? No, I may be wrong. I may be wrong.

Now. You might be right. I don't know. Now. I don't know. But yeah, they were around the same time. Marvel was like, Yo, let's do some stuff.

Yeah, yes. And then Stellan Skarsgard plays an incredible kind of villain to the story with an incredibly villainous name. His name is Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. And he has, like Zagat is evil. Right. And he's just incredibly powerful, grotesque. disgusting military intelligence and Stellan Skarsgard is just grossing it up the entire movie and it's, it's awesome. Yeah. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. I was like, I love it. Right. But I will say I was mentioning kind of the attention to detail. You'll hear this a lot. I don't know if I have anything new to say about what reviewers who have really enjoyed this have been saying. But the way that Denee via new uses scale, and he's done it in movies before like Blade Runner and a rival. And for anyone who saw enemy, there's a little bit of that movie too. Because yeah, he always had this these huge, sweeping landscapes. And he'll have some great kind of set piece in the center of it. But then He'll either have like people or something relatable in the foreground. So it just brings you this feeling of scale. And that's why I'm saying, This is a movie that should be seen an IMAX, it's one of those things where, if you are watching it at home, or watching it on an airplane or anything like that, you are like you are seeing the movie, but you're not experiencing the intent that the creators put into what they wanted the audience to feel. You know, I also saw, I also saw James Bond in IMAX shortly before this, and I didn't have that feeling. I was like, Yeah, this is cool. Like, I could have seen it in any theater, but this movie, if anyone gets the opportunity, I think that is how it should be seen. That's how it should be appreciated. And that's how, in my opinion, you should be reviewed. You know, I think if anyone's seeing it in a different situation, they're reviewing a different version of what was created, you know.

Interesting. Okay.

So that being said,

So you like it's the best way to absorb this, this this? This project? Basically,

it's Yeah, I think and not only the best way to absorb it, but I think it's created for and I think it's the artists intent on how they wanted it absorbed. You know what I mean? Yeah, okay. Yeah. Be like seeing, it would be like having an opinion on like a Mark Rothko painting, because you're looking at it on your cell phone. It's like, you know, it's not the same thing.

Yeah, have a review, but like, I care less about.

Um, but like I said, unfortunately, it is going to be I think the long term, a kind of legacy of this film is going to be dependent on a second part that because we're in COVID, we have movies out right now starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that are huge historical pieces that might not make their money back. I think this movie already did get some money back and worldwide gross. I think last time I checked, it was like 165 mil budget, and I think it's already made 220. So

what's the world the world the worldwide gross is like the worldwide gross is like 223 million right now. But a lot of things that I've read unless they double the budget, it's not typically considered successful because the budgets don't include like marketing budgets, right? These are huge. So Right. So if it's 160, then it probably needs to make at least 320. Probably.

Yep. So it's got some work to do. It's an excellent opening weekend. But for anybody who is feeling safe and vaccinated and interested in getting back to the theaters if you haven't yet. I think this is the movie to do it. I think if that second piece knocked out of the park, we're gonna have a new Star Wars Lord of the Rings, like large scale hit on our hands. It was back good.

Awesome. Yeah. I'm going to be seeing it sometime this week, hopefully, and I next with you again. So Oh, yeah, be fun. I can't wait. I've been looking forward to it.

Say no more. I'm in.

And honestly, since it's already at 223 million, there's a good chance it probably will hit 320. So

that's gonna get another $29. So

at least 20 of mine. Yeah.

Exactly. Fantastic. Yeah. So that's what's new. Let's get on into the shorter meat and potatoes. This thing? Let's talk about some scary movies.

So what do you want to go with first, like like we decided to recommend just like maybe not our favorite but a film we liked in different genres. Do you want to start with zombie or?

Yeah, let's start with zombies. Let's do it. I was really excited about my choice, and then actually really pissed off to where I didn't watch it again. I'm just gonna work it off memory. Why recommended? I'll tell you why. I I chose a 2017 wreck. You know, Spanish language film, found footage movie back when found footage movies were all the craze. Yeah, this one stood out as something pretty special to me. And I was so excited to watch it again. It was the first movie that came to mind when we were talking about actually, the first movie that came to mind was 28 days later, but I was like, 14 is gonna choose 28 days later. That's my favorite thing.

That's my favorite zombie film of all time. So yeah, you know, I

would recommend that one for sure. So I took a science up on that one. I was like, Ooh, I'd love to watch back again. You're so nice. Thank you. Course, of course, and you know, not only that it was a little bit selfish because I own 28 days later, and I was like Yeah. But you know, I don't own rack, and I went to rent it. And I went on my Xbox, I went to the store, and I rented it. And I hit play. And I was like, Oh, this is odd. It's dubbed in English. Well, that's okay. You know, sometimes we lose four bucks. I'm gonna go rent it on Amazon. So I went to Amazon. And I rent it there. And it said, ESP. And I was like, great. Sounds great. Yeah, let me rent that another four bucks, started. It's an English not a problem. Instead, it's in Spanish. Let me change the settings really quick, can change the settings. I google this, because I think I'm going crazy. Turns out it's a common problem with digital distribution of this movie right now. So I decided that I'm just going to remember it in its Spanish language of beauty and authenticity. So not watch the debate list. Okay,

so I watched it because I had never seen it. Now. Interestingly enough, I had seen the American remake quarantine with Jennifer Carpenter, who we will talk about later in a different film. And I actually have to admit, I liked quarantine. I didn't think it was bad. I thought it was a movie. I thought Jennifer Carpenter was great. I'm now seeing the wreck version. I think I kind of understand why I liked quarantine because quarantine was almost like a very faithful, nearly shot for shot remake. Like, it seems like that it almost seemed like whoever the director was in quarantine didn't try to take liberties necessarily do his own thing. It's like he was just trying to honor the original, which, I mean, it's been a while since I've seen it. So there might be some differences. But I only got to see it in the English dub, I admit. And I prefer to watch things in their original language. English dubbing was actually quite good. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just would rather have seen it in its original thing. Like it never really took me out of the movie, which is great. So they did a good job. But I just still prefer, you know, to watch it in its original language, because I like to hear the performance and all that stuff. But overall, from what I remember, they seemed like almost neck and neck like to the point where I enjoyed them both kind of equally, like the only thing I would say, my memory could be wrong. But I feel like the character of the lead character, the reporter in wreck might have been a little bit more aggressive. And I don't necessarily mean in like a fight way, but in like, almost like a kind of screaming. You know, like way Yeah, and in some situations, like, I could be wrong, but I almost feel like Jennifer Carpenter's character, she did have moments like that. But there were other moments where she would be really scared, but be quiet because she was scared of them hearing her and this one, I feel like, the only thing about her and REC is I felt like she's screaming loudly all the time. And I'm like, you'd literally get everyone killed. But like, I really liked her because she seems like a really cool person and everything and she's just doing her job. But it seems like sometimes it's like no shish shish. And then like, even the cameraman dies protecting her, which is also what happens in quarantine. And I was like, man, like, like, I feel bad. Because I would have been like, if you don't be quiet, we are going to die. And I believe you. I feel like you need to be quiet. Like, like, like, I'm screaming on the inside too. But it's like right now. It doesn't help us. Like, you know, and like all the characters were like that it was kind of more like her and like, the other situations where she's talking, but she's like, kind of yelling it and I'm like, why would you yell it right now? Like so that was probably my only gripe and the truth is I haven't seen quarantine in a while. So it could have been the same and I don't remember it's it just didn't strike me as that. But I I'd say overall I liked them equally. I thought they were both very good movies. It's really creative for its time. It was wreck was really, really well made. I mean, they clearly the director, especially since he they were the one that you know originally created this so I have to give them more credit for sure. Because some of the blocking and stuff was really great. Like you don't really really plan that stuff out to get it to to work that well. So yeah, really, really great movie. Great recommendation. I really liked it so and I haven't seen quarantine since I saw a quarantine once in the theater with my friend Sean so and that was when it came out years ago. So it was really nice because there's just so many scenes I remember being duplicated but um, you know, it does feel a little bit different, which is nice. So that's cool.

Yeah, yeah, it is pretty much a shot for shot remake. If I remember quarantine appropriately to appropriately to the things I remember liking more about rappers that felt the apartment feels a little dirtier. And I feel even though chaufeur Shot there's something about the authenticity of the the lead actress where Jennifer Carpenter is also amazing, but maybe it was just because I wasn't familiar with this actress when I saw the movie for her to go from this like slight frustration that it's just like this fluff piece kind of journalism at the firehouse and then they go to the apartment complex and all of a sudden things start getting locked down in the paranoia. That's in and all of a sudden, like, it's kind of building and building and then the body falls from the fifth floor and from did get that that was relentless. Like yeah, no, not the rest of movies just yeah. That was

probably one of my favorite parts. And I was in remember going was that in quarantine? I don't remember. But like, yeah, probably was but like I was just like, yeah, when the firefighter just fought like it's just like, oh yeah, it was so good. Like, it's so good like,

Toto It was great. And the build up to the last 20 minutes in the penthouse. Oh, yeah, so pretty shot for shot and quarantine, that last 20 minutes, in my opinion is one of the most kind of terrifying finales of any zombie movie scene when I think of zombies that pieces. There's a few that really stand out to me. One is that one. Another one that I really love is the first the intro to 28 weeks later, which I don't love the rest of the movie as much, but I love that first scene and the trap, right? Yeah, yeah, it's really good. Um, and it's just one of those things where I watch it. I am pretty like numb to scary movies like also jump to loud noises because that's how bodies work. Yeah, but scary.

By the way, directors loud noises are not good directing. It's cheating. You're using the nervous system to do what it's supposed to do. You're not actually scaring anybody.

Yeah, exactly. I'd

say that.

But when I when I watched that. Last 20 minutes of wreck. I definitely feel like my arms crossing like I'm tired. Yeah, you know what I mean?

And that happened with me too. Like, last 20 minutes. I think I I like made fists, and I liked it and let them go. And I always do the thing where like, my mom taught me when I was a kid because you can get scared and bite your tongue. So when you kind of like whenever I'm watching horror movies, even though I'm not really scared, I like keep my teeth together just to make sure so a lot of noise doesn't make me like bite my tongue or something. Yeah, I love it. I love the tension. Love it.

Awesome. And speaking jumpscares my favorite recent jumpscare that I felt was really earned was I'm not gonna spoil exactly what happens. But it wasn't Midnight Mass. And it was when the character walks into the church. And oh, you know what I'm talking about. And there's the, and it's a silent jumpscare is no noise to it. But if

it's the part you're thinking of, I'm pretty sure I'll just say towards the end, right?

There's a priest and a tall man in church. Yeah. And the tall man turns around. Yeah, I loved it. blew me back in my chair. I was right for it. Especially from

that perspective. You're just like, whoa. Exactly. So great. Like honestly, that video I'm working on it right now for the YouTube channel. It is taking me time though. Like cuz I just have so much time like I do. This might be my first like, 20 minute video. I don't know. We'll see.

I'm probably gonna actually we started watching Hill House recently, but right after that, I'll probably rewatch Midnight Mass again, it'll catch on I manner.

I still need to finish by manner because I got to Episode Five. It was pretty good. That

shows just oh my god. It's heartbreaking. It's so good.

So what I like about it, though, is it's it is a hunt. It is a hunting but it's not a horror, you know? Yeah. Horror. It's a it's very much a love story in a lot of ways. Yeah, like so far.

Total now. Let's talk 28 days later, man, uh, Danny Boyle doing his like, Gorilla fatty project.

For sure. And I love that like that, that I love the intent, like, like, it's clearly very deliberate that like, it almost looks like the film was shot with like a camcorder rather than like a cinema cam, which I wouldn't be surprised if he was. And it was written by Alex Garland, who's gone on to do wonderful things like he he's gone on to write and direct. Now he did annihilation. He did X Mokena. He also wrote sunshine, which Danny Boyle also directed, which I thought was great. Like, he's just a very good writer, and Danny Boyle's a very, very good director. And he definitely has a unique style. So the style of this film is one of the things that I remember being really, really captured by when I saw the trailer, I was like, it almost looks like shitty film. When I first saw it, and then I was like, the crazy thing though, is it almost gives it like this documentary esque feel, even though it's not a documentary at all. Like, it was really interesting idea. And I also like the I like, the zombies in this are very different. I like the origin story of zombies in this film, like, because to me zombies walking around and stuff. It can only be so scary. Like, that's one of the reasons why one of the other zombie films I actually do like, is zombie land because I feel like it makes fun of a lot of those tropes, you know, like, it's like, you need to get cardio. You just do circles and stuff. I was like, yeah, exactly. Cuz like, I used to always say shit like that. When you're a kid. You're like, why don't you just running circles they take forever, right? But like when they're like this, and they're rabid, and they're fast and, and the way they look at it with a red eyes and they shake it. There's something about it. Like like watching this. I haven't seen this actually since the first time I watched it. I only saw it once and I never forgot it. But seeing it again. I realize my favorite scene is when he goes into the church in the beginning, and there's all those and he goes hello and two bodies stand up and two guys stand up but it's like so quickly. Like they stand up and turn and look at them, and they're just shaking. So it's so unnervingly creepy, like it is. So I remember I saw and I was like, Whoa, I forgot about that. I was like, God, I love this movie. Like, it's just so good. And they have really great characters that are just really honest, which I like, there's no, trying to make a point or anything really like it's really is about survival. And, you know, one character does learn about that it is about more than survival, which is great. And I think that is a hard core lesson to learn. Because I think most of us in that situation, the people that do survive, it probably would become this pattern of it being all about survival and forgetting to enjoy the things that you can enjoy. You know, I, I can totally understand that. I also, I also actually forgot about the scene where he goes to check on his parents and finds them in the bed. Holding his picture like that scene like really gets to me. I just felt like the way it's handled is really, really, it's not just that it's really great. But it's actually interesting. Like, it's really, really interesting, like even going back and rewatch it, it is just as interesting now as it was when I watched it then, and I feel like this genre, it's so saturated, it's starting to die down a little bit more now. But for like a good 10 years there, it was like so saturated that you almost got it was almost like superheroes, it's like a kind of have something else. It's not a zombie movie or TV show or whatever. Because, you know, there's only so many ways you can do it. And I imagine someone will come up with something new soon. But like, for a while, they were all kind of just the same, you know, and this took a very different perspective, very different characters, very different kind of zombie. And it also threw in the whole apocalyptic feel of how people will be near the end and what people do to survive. But even what people just feel they need to things that people need that are worth existing for, which is a theme that's covered with the soldiers, the soldiers literally what's happening with them. And what's promised is awful, but it was actually happening out of an attempt to some of them were literally going to commit suicide, because they're like, what's the point of still being here, like, you know, promising people things that aren't really theirs to have. But it's, you know, like, it's really, it's really interesting, like the things that people will do to survive. And I think how this movie explores those ideas with characters, you know, like, and I don't know why I'm still talking like, it's a spoiler free review, I'm sorry, but like, like promising them women, for instance, it's really, it's really fucked up. But he did it clearly not just for himself, but he's trying to keep his boys as he calls them alive, because he needs them to defend the property. So how do you keep them alive? You give them something they want. So you promised them women, so they don't kill themselves so that you still have soldiers? So you know, I mean, like, it's like, you know, everyone's doing what they're doing to survive. And if you think about it, I mean, I hate saying it, but he's almost an extreme example, of, of

Naomi Harris's character, Selena, if you think about it, because in the beginning, she'll do whatever she has to do to survive, even her friend, if you get bitten, you're killed. And I understand that mentality, it's fucked up, but I get it. But if you think about it, he's kind of doing it too. But just to an extreme degree. On the other end, it's like, this is where this evolves to, like, Who knows if you stay this way, if you might end up like him later. Like, in a way, if you really think about it, he's kind of like, her methodology just gone awry. Like totally all the way, you know, just survival. Like that's it. I'm sorry, I it was a great movie to me. So I agree.

One thing I really enjoy doing is looking at movies kind of in the context of big events around that time, and actually that, you know, this came out 2003 2002

I think 2002 I think, yeah, there's

absolutely a lot of themes of a post 911 film and I want to the rage virus itself, the conversations around domestic violence and violence in the media and how it's affecting us were the most prevalent prevalent conversations in the media during that time. Yep. So this area was another one mass hysteria. Yeah. So the quote rage virus, the idea that they were experimenting on what depictions of these images would do to animals and the idea that that can transfer to humans we're turning into this You're right zombies in this movie are they're they're terrifying. They're constantly seizing, they're sprinting, there's no getting away from them. They don't

happen so quickly, like really quick, like, you turn within like 30 seconds. Like there's no, you have to wait to die or anything. Like that's another thing that's scary about it like,

yeah, and when they catch you, it's not like they're just trying to bite you. They bludgeon you, they're thrown on you. It's it's incredibly unnerving. Um, my, my favorite sequence in the movie is after you, what was the main character's name? Well, right. I was when I was Jim. It was Jim Jim.

Jim. Jim. Jim. Yeah.

But killing Murphy's character, Jim, you know, falls in with this kind of ragtag group, led by Selena and they're, like you said, they're all very untrusting of each other. And my favorite sequence in the movie is it's kind of in three parts that starts where they meet with Brendan Gleason's character who's the father, and he has his daughter, Hannah. And they are all in this incredibly warm apartment. You know, they have Christmas lights and he makes them tea. That's great. And they decide they, you know, they get this radio signal to a potential military base and salvation. So they decided to go on the road trip in the movie. And my favorite part is when they start coming together at the grocery store, there's this amazing sequence of them shopping around and it's incredibly colorful, and it's very offset by just the bleakness that you've been surrounded by in the whole, like, I

Transcribed by https://otter.ai